Category Archives: New Crops

Agronomy, AgTech, Conference, Data Analytics, Fertiliser, Innovation, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Orcharding, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, Vegetables, viticulture, Water, Weeds

LandWISE 2021: Working Smarter

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Havelock North, 19-20 May 2021

Thanks to everyone who made LandWISE 21 such a successful Conference!

We were a touch nervous after Covid-cancelling last year, but so heartened when our sponsors jumped on-board, and delgetaes began registering earlier than usual. Perhaps there was a vacuum . . .
The speakers’ presentations are summarised in a series of blog posts, many with a short sound clip. The time put in to create the presentations is clearly huge, it is a very large gift each one makes. Thanks each and every one of you!

Topics covered:

  • Best Practice and Beyond
  • Future Proofing Vegetable Production
  • Carbon and Water
  • Smart Technologies for Permanent Crops
  • Herbicide Resistance Management
  • Agritech in NZ and Hawke’s Bay

Jump to the Conference Page for links to presentations

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Controlled Traffic Systems, Cover crops, Drainage, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Research, Soil, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Water, Weeds

Less $$ than a flat white a fortnight

A message to our members and friends

LandWISE runs on a voluntary membership basis with an annual subscription of just $100 for the current year. Subscriptions are now due and our Financial Members will be getting their invoices sent out shortly.

If you are already one of our Financial Members, Thank You! Can you please help us again by recommending us to a friend?

We haven’t changed our subs for years, but are starting to review that. What would be best, is if more of our followers chose to join!

Not a Member? JOIN HERE!

If you’re getting and valuing our newsletters, downloading and listening to our podcasts, accessing the resources on our website or the FertSpread tools etc. please think about giving us a hand.  It really will only cost you about half a cup of coffee a week, but it will make a big difference to us.

How does LandWISE fund its activities?

Our overheads are kept rock-bottom. The MicroFarm, our offices and equipment are provided as an in-kind service by Page Bloomer Associates. Our Board is voluntary, and we meet mostly by email and video conferencing. But we do need to pay accountants and insurance and run websites and the other things every organisation has to do.

Our major activities are funded on a project by project basis. That means we need a lot of support from co-funders so we can access (hopefully) various reasearch and extension grants such as MPI’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFFF). Our Conference too (as podcasts in 2020!) also relies on a number of loyal sponsors and the delegate fees we collect.

Merf explaining cover crops and catch crops at the LandWISE AGM
Merf explaining cover crops and catch crops at the LandWISE AGM

All these things cost a bundle. If we can get more members, we can increase the amount of work we can self-fund and provide more member services. 

Please consider becoming a Financial Member today. Click the link, fill it in and we’ll flick you an invoice.  (and we’ll cover the cost of our own coffees!)

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Conference, Controlled Traffic Systems, Data Analytics, Drainage, events, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE 2015, LandWISE People, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Orcharding, Plant Health, Planting, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, Tillage, Uncategorized, Vegetables, viticulture, Water, Weeds

Memberships Open for 2020-2021

Calling all followers and friends of LandWISE, we invite you to become a financial member this year.

Your support is vital for LandWISE to continue doing what we do. We rely on farmer support to ensure the backing of new projects, discover new areas for research or technology adoption, and to fund field days, workshops and the development of practical resources. 

LandWISE Membership is a great way to support the mission of sustainable production in New Zealand, and as a member you’ll benefit from:

  • Results from on-farm trials
  • Projects focussed on real farmer and grower problems
  • Regional field days and workshops on a range of topics from conserving soil to nutrient management and novel fertiliser technology
  • A discounted registration at the 2021 LandWISE Conference
  • Subscription to our annual LandWISE News publication

Membership is open to all who are interested in primary production and share our values. We hope you’ll consider becoming a member, or forward this on to a non-member if you already are!

Sign up here >

Agronomy, AgTech, Automation, Data Analytics, Fertiliser, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE People, Membership, MicroFarm, New Crops, Nutrients, Orchard, Plant Health, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Research, Robotics, Sensing, Soil, Tillage, Vegetables, viticulture, Water, Weeds

Help Wanted

We’re not quite sure what to call the job: science manager, extensionist, project manager, consultant? We know it offers diverse activities and needs excellent communication skills and practical knowledge of horticulture and technology.

We are looking for someone to help identify and lead research projects and extension activities across a variety of issues and regions. For the right person, this is a role with considerable potential to grow.

This will be a Page Bloomer Associates appointment. They provide our science, management and support services while having addditional private consultancy activities.  Working closely together, we know they share our passion for sustainable land and water management.

Since the dawn of the new millennium we’ve been providing progressive, pragmatic and independent services through projects and consultancy. A key feature of our work is close collaboration with end users, researchers and developers. We talk about “linking thinking from the farm out”.

The role includes engaging with growers, industry and researchers to identify opportunities to review practices and integrate new technologies to create sustainable cropping systems. The appointee will develop and manage projects and support services that support economically and environmentally sustainable primary production.

If you know someone with passion for smarter farming who wants a key role in a small dedicated organisation, Page Bloomer Associates would like to chat with them!

More Info on TradeMe Jobs

Conference, Innovation, Irrigation, LandWISE People, New Crops, Tillage

LandWISE 2019: Best Practice Changes

Hugh Ritchie – Honorary Life Member

Drumpeel Farms has been run as a continuous mixed cropping farm since 1962 but had been cropped prior to that time. Key to the ongoing success of this farm has been a 5-year rotation utilizing legumes, cereals, seeds and stock.

During the 70’s a significant injection of lime was used to lift performance, irrigation was introduced in 2000 which provided resilience and opportunity for new and higher value options. This was closely followed by a move to reduced tillage eventually progressing to direct drilling and strip-tillage. These changes were driven consciously by a desire to make good business decisions but also there was an underlying understanding of importance of soil health and with limited water a need to be as efficient as possible with that water.

Good farm practice is an ever-evolving status. What was good in the 60’s is now modified and the 2000’s are completely different from today. Going forward,best practice will need to incorporate carbon zero thinking and (what will be even harder) meet public expectation even if that expectation does not reflect scientific findings, for example Roundup acceptance in the marketplace. Currently our business of good practice and reduced cultivation relies heavily on a chemical herbicide program.

Facing these new and emerging issues means a further refinement of good practice and even completely new enterprises to utilize our soils, climate and water resources with the aim of creating a sustainable business.

Drumpeel Farms is a family business Hugh runs in conjunction with Sharon and their four children. It is a mixed enterprise business with livestock, seeds and cereals and process vegetables as the main components.

They produce peas, beans, carrots, sweetcorn and some export squash, along with carrot and onion seed. The business is exploring the options for kiwifruit and apples as a way to increase value from the soils and water resources available to us.

As a grower Hugh has always contributed to industries in which he is involved. Currently a director of Hortnz and chair of the Foundation for Arable Research board, a member of Process Vegetables NZ and a director of Water Holdings, Central Hawke’s Bay, Hugh recently retired from the LANDWISE and Irrigation NZ boards.

Agronomy, Conference, New Crops, Research, Vegetables

LandWISE 2019: Kiwi Quinoa

Growing the Andean Superfood here in New Zealand

  

Eight years ago, Dan and Jacqui Cottrell set off on their Overseas Experience – it was in South America that they encountered the high protein superfood staple of the Andean people, quinoa, and considered “Could quinoa be grown back at home on the Cottrell family farm?”

Fast forward to now and Dan and Jacqui have recently harvested their fourth and largest quinoa crop on their cool climate sheep and beef property on the Taihape-Napier Road, just out of Moawhango in the Central Plateau.

Quinoa is a high protein seed with an impressive nutritional offering, so much so that NASA stated “while no single food contains all the nutrients necessary to live, quinoa comes as close as any” and have included it in their long term space travel.

After a lot of research, communication with international quinoa producers and a variety trial – the couple identified a particular saponin-free variety of quinoa that really suited their cool climate and short growing season. 

Through many years of trial and error, Dan and Jacqui have ironed out a growing practice that suits their quinoa and their wider farming operation.  Kiwi Quinoa is grown without the use of herbicides or pesticides.  Their quinoa is grown as part of pasture renewal program and permanent pasture is planted shortly after the crop is harvested in February.

With a shift in consumer attitudes around food choices – the demand for sustainably produced, plant based proteins is on the rise.  Recent studies in the US have shown that consumption of alternative proteins, like quinoa and other plant proteins, is growing at a rate of 4-10 times faster than conventional proteins.

Jacqui and Dan remain very supportive of traditional proteins, but also see tremendous opportunity for New Zealand agriculture in not only the plant protein space but with a shift into more regenerative ways of farming our land.

Want to know more?

REGISTER HERE FOR LandWISE 2019!

Agronomy, Conference, New Crops

LandWISE 2019: Hemp and its Capabilities

Simon White is a Co-Founder and Director of Kanapu Hemp Foods Limited New Zealand. Simon has spent the last 9 years running the family farm in Otane, CHB.

The Whites grow a range of processed crops, speciality seed crops and animal grain crops, also finishing beef and lamb. Simon will be speaking about his involvement with Industrial Hemp and its capabilities.

The Hemp plant has been a part of this world for more than 10,000 years which puts it into the range of one of the oldest known human agriculture crops to be harvested. As explained by Richard Hamilton on sustainable agriculture “Modern humans emerged some 250,000 years ago, yet agriculture is a fairly recent invention, only about 10,000 years old as well. Agriculture is not natural; it is a human invention.”

Varieties of Cannabis sativa (Industrial Hemp) that contain no, or very low levels of, THC are commonly referred to as hemp or industrial hemp. Hemp has typically been used for industrial purposes, such as textiles, fibres, paper, building materials.

Over time, the use of industrial hemp has evolved into an even greater variety of products. The global market for hemp consists of more than 25,000 products in nine submarkets, agriculture and textiles, recycling and automotive, furniture, food and beverage, paper and construction, cosmetics and medicine.

“At a time when I was looking for alternative crops to fit into our cropping rotation that I researched Industrial Hemp. The properties of the plant started to fit more into the category of what we were after in a new crop: environmentally enhancing, nutritionally beneficial, minimum tillage or no tillage, short crop (100days).

The opportunities for food, fibre and medicine into a global rising market at a CAGR of 14% saw us develop a partnership, establish a company and now have a vision of being New Zealand’s leading Hemp foods company transforming the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders through production, manufacturing and distribution of high quality functional hemp food ingredients in New Zealand.”

Want to know more?

REGISTER HERE FOR LandWISE 2019!

Conference, New Crops, Orcharding, Planting, Research

LandWISE 2019: Development of a Banana Industry for Tairāwhiti

Jane Mullaney  is a scientist working in the Food and Nutrition group at AgResearch Palmerston North. Jane is also affiliated with the Riddet Institute for food innovation and is a microbiologist with her PhD in Food Technology.

Jane and colleagues have partnered with Tai Pukenga Ltd to develop a commercial banana industry for the Tairāwhiti/East Coast region. 

A bunch of bananas grown at Anaura Bay, north of Tolaga Bay on the East Coast.
Bananas grown at Anaura Bay, north of Tolaga Bay on the East Coast. [Image (C) stuff]
Bananas are economically important fruit crops grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and are currently cultivated in over 130 countries, on over 5.5 million hectares with a global production of about 145 million tons (FAOSTAT, 2017).

Bananas serve as a principle source of carbohydrates for millions of people worldwide while in New Zealand, we spend more on bananas than any other fruit, and eat about 18kg of them every year, or roughly two bananas a week.

There are hundreds of different cultivars which differ mainly by the amounts of starch and sugars produced in their fruits however, the only bananas imported to New Zealand are the Cavendish variety. While subtropical, bananas can be grown almost anywhere.

By using tissue culture methods, AgResearch have developed and shared this knowledge with Tai Pukenga to enable the rapid expansion of a banana industry for the East Coast region.

Through DNA sequencing, AgResearch aims to identify cultivars and this information will help inform along with trial farms, which cultivar might be best suited for future commercial work.

Jane and colleagues aim to use tissue culture to produce many banana plants for trialling across the region, to identify which cultivars we already have growing in the region using DNA sequencing and to assess the nutritional benefits of the NZ produced fruit. This project is funded through the Vision Mātauranga Connect Fund.

Want to know more?

REGISTER HERE FOR LandWISE 2019!